Defending champ Challengers win in debut

The defending Class 3A state champion Cascade Christian baseball team picked up where it left off by seizing a victory in their season debut on Monday.

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Posted Mar. 12, 2013 at 12:01 AM

Posted Mar. 12, 2013 at 12:01 AM

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The defending Class 3A state champion Cascade Christian baseball team picked up where it left off by seizing a victory in their season debut on Monday.

Will Weaver got the Challengers going with a two-out, two-run single up the middle in the bottom of the second inning and Cascade Christian topped Umpqua Valley Christian, 7-4, at U.S. Cellular Community Park.

In nonconference action at 4 p.m. today at U.S. Cellular, the Challengers (1-0) face Yreka, another team coming off a state tournament run and a squad that beat Cascade Christian twice last season.

"They were one of the best teams we faced last year," said Challengers coach John Bruce. "They're very good and very well-coached. We look forward to playing them. It's going to be a great challenge."

The Challengers received a little bit of help Monday by scoring three runs on three Monarch errors, including both third-inning runs that put Cascade up 4-2.

Isaiah Luzny added an RBI triple in the fourth inning and later scored on a single by Cooper Clark that gave the Challengers a 7-2 advantage.

Daniel Scottow went 2-for-3 with a triple and Clark finished 2-for-4 for the Challengers.

HIDDEN VALLEY 11, ROGUE RIVER 0, 5 inn. — At Grants Pass, Hidden Valley senior Tyler Gulbransen tossed three shutout innings and connected for a double and triple to lead the Mustangs to a season-opening win in nonleague play.

Rogue River managed two hits in five innings, and the Mustangs used a seven-run fourth inning to separate from the Chieftains.

EAGLE POINT 7, NORTH VALLEY 5 — At Eagle Point, McKenzie Merrill supplied a solo home run and retired the last six batters to secure a season-opening win for Eagle Point in nonleague play.

Merrill allowed only four hits and one earned run but the Eagles trailed 4-1 through three innings before tying the contest when Emily Jeffries and Brianna Shopp each drove in runs in the fourth after the inning was extended by an error.

Eagle Point took the lead for good in a five-run fifth inning that saw the Knights commit three more errors.

Kenzie Schmoll, Mikayla Dart and Abigail Kite each plated runs for North Valley.

ALL-SOH SCRAMBLE — North Medford's pairing of Daniel Schuler and Taylor Klemp shared top honors with Ashland's Matt Hedges and Ben Sager but it was St. Mary's which prevailed in the team competition at Rogue Valley Country Club.

The season opener utilized a unique format where each duo played six holes in a best ball format, six in a Chapman format and six in a scramble format.

The Schuler-Klemp and Hedges-Sager pairings each finished with a total score of 68.

St. Mary's provided the most consistent showing among its three duos with scores of 70, 71 and 74. The tandem of Tom Thorndike and Josh Wu led the way at 70.

GRANTS PASS 7, NORTH MEDFORD 1 — North Medford's lone victory in the season opener came by way of its top doubles combo when Ryan Hogan and Kyle Campbell topped Grants Pass' Nick O'Hara and Nathan Trujillo 6-4, 6-4 at North Medford High.

Robby Hobbs of Grants Pass claimed a 6-1, 6-1 triumph over Logan West in the No. 1 singles matchup.